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It is plausible that the Ogaden War had been initiated as a
coup-proofing strategy by the Somali leader to weaken the Somali army at a moment of
increased domestic unrest. To decrease his coup risk and prevent future coup threat from the
military, Siad Barre likely used the Ogaden War as a coup-proofing strategy to fight for his
political survival

I suggest that a possible motive behind the
Ogaden War lay not in Somali irredentism but in coup-proofing, a strategy employed to
weaken the military and diminish the leader’s risk of military coup